Corporate executives have long seen the value of outsourcing in time, money and quality of services it provides. An article published by The Wall Street Journal online back in 2013 gives us a snapshot in time of the growing momentum for large corporations to outsource certain aspects of its internal operations. The article said: “Finance and accounting (F&A) was one of the first back-office processes that companies outsourced, and the practice continues to boom: As the market matures, companies contracting for outcomes are exploring fresh ideas and seeking new answers to streamline (other company) processes. They are expanding outsourcing to new areas of finance and accounting, new industries, and new sizes of companies than in the past.” Active companies in the markets this week include Surge Holdings, Inc.(OTC: SURG), First Data Corporation (NYSE: FDC), Accenture plc (NYSE: ACN), Zendesk, Inc. (NYSE: ZEN), Infosys Limited (NYSE: INFY).
As companies look to leverage the power of their data, they are turning to outsourcers with greater expertise and technology resources than they have in-house. Also stated in WSJ article, “An outsourcer is going to have access to state-of-the-art technology, and experts who use those software packages every day. While CFOs of large companies are focused on outsourcing to improve far-flung global operations, smaller companies, who have typically eschewed outsourcing of F&A, are beginning to embrace it as well. Outsourcers have expanded their offerings to the small- and mid-size company segments and developed solutions targeted toward specific vertical industries.” Now jumping forward to today, a Business News Daily article published January 2,
Surge Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB
Brian Cox, CEO of SURG, said, “I am pleased to report the smooth closing of our agreement with Centercom. We now have
The primary Centercom initiatives to support SURG 2019 growth plans are:
Assisting in onboarding SurgePays Portal into over 40,000 retail locations and subsequent ongoing white glove support
Aggressively marketing new “Free Wireless Service” program to substantially grow customer base while beefing up customer service
Launch SurgePays Reloadable Visa Card by end of 1st Quarter
Support our IT infrastructure including database management
Upsell related FinTech products to our existing customer base to increase revenue
Cox further added, “I cannot emphasize enough to our shareholders that the foundation work for my build out checklist has been successfully completed as promised. Read this and more news for SURG
Other recent developments in the business services industry include:
First Data Corporation (NYSE: FDC) and Fiserv (FISV) this week announced that their boards of directors have unanimously approved a definitive merger agreement under which Fiserv will acquire First Data in an all-stock transaction. The transaction unites two premier companies to create one of the world’s leading payments and financial technology providers, and an enhanced value proposition for its clients.
Under the terms of the agreement, First Data shareholders will receive a fixed exchange ratio of 0.303 Fiserv shares for each share of First Data common stock they own, for an equity value of $22 billion. This represents $22.74 based on closing prices as of January 15, and a premium of 29% to the five-day volume weighted average price as of that date. Following the close of the transaction, Fiserv shareholders will own 57.5% of the combined company, and First Data shareholders will own 42.5%, on a fully diluted basis. The all-stock transaction is intended to be tax-free to First Data shareholders.
This highly complementary combination will offer leading technology capabilities that enable a range of payments and financial services, including account processing and digital banking solutions; card issuer processing and network services; e-commerce; integrated payments; and the Clover™ cloud-based point-of-sale solution. The combined company will offer comprehensive distribution channels and have deep expertise in partnering with financial institutions, merchants and billers of all sizes, as well as software developers.
Accenture plc (NYSE: ACN) recently announced that it has helped CAQH, a non-profit healthcare alliance, launch a new technology platform that will streamline professional credentialing and data sharing between delegated health providers and health plans.
The new platform replaces today’s highly manual and redundant processes with an online module that streamlines the roster sharing process between health plans and delegated groups. Provider groups can use the platform to submit a single roster of their delegated providers through a centralized portal, giving plans access to standardized, updated files in one convenient location. In addition to simplifying the process, the platform improves data quality by requiring that all rosters satisfy more than 120 automated quality checks.
Collectively, these capabilities will help the industry improve data quality and consistency while eliminating the highly inefficient processes widely used today. CAQH estimates that the creation of a central system for delegated provider credentialing could save the industry nearly $150 million annually if three-fourths of plans and groups automated credentialing in this way.
Zendesk, Inc. (NYSE: ZEN) recently announced that it will release financial results for the fourth fiscal quarter and full fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, following the close of the U.S. markets on Tuesday, February 5, 2019. In conjunction with its earnings press release, the company will post a detailed shareholder letter to its Investor Relations website https://investor.zendesk.com.
Zendesk will host a conference call to answer questions at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time (5:00 p.m. Eastern Time) on Tuesday, February 5, 2019. A live webcast of the conference call will be available at https://investor.zendesk.com. The conference call can also be accessed by
A replay of the call via webcast will be available at https://investor.zendesk.com or by
Infosys Limited (NYSE: INFY) recently announced its results for the Quarter Ended December 31, 2018. A 10.1% CC YoY Revenue Growth in Q3 Leads to Upward Revision in Guidance.
“With increased client relevance, we saw
“Volume growth was strong and revenue productivity was stable despite Q3 being a seasonally weak quarter. We had good growth across geographies and large business segments,” said Pravin Rao, COO. “Attrition declined during the quarter and we are continuing on the path of increased interventions and employee engagements to reduce it further.” “We saw significant currency volatility during the quarter and managed it effectively by our hedging strategy,” said Jayesh Sanghrajka, Interim CFO. “Cash generation was strong during the quarter. Executing on the capital allocation strategy announced in April 2018, we have announced a share buyback program and a special dividend.”
